New Amendments to Vietnam's Advertising Law Address Online and Cross-Border Advertising Regulations
Overview
On the morning of November 8, Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyễn Văn Hùng, on behalf of the Prime Minister, presented to the National Assembly a proposal for the draft law amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Advertising Law.
Minister Hùng stated that the draft law aims to institutionalize the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies related to culture, the cultural industry, and law-making in the new phase.
It seeks to address shortcomings observed over more than a decade of implementing the 2012 Advertising Law, such as:
– Certain legal provisions regarding advertising content and formats not aligning with the diverse development of advertising activities.
– The need to adjust regulations on managing advertising activities in the press, online environments, and cross-border advertising services to meet socio-economic development and integration trends.
– Inadequacies in outdoor advertising regulations that are inconsistent with other specialized legal provisions.
“Therefore, to promptly institutionalize the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies, keep pace with societal changes, address existing issues, and facilitate the development of advertising activities, the formulation of the draft law amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Advertising Law is essential at this time,” Minister Hùng emphasized.
The draft law retains the scope of regulation from the 2012 Advertising Law, covering advertising activities; the rights and obligations of organizations and individuals involved in advertising; and state management of advertising activities.
It also amends and supplements provisions on managing advertising content and conditions; managing advertising activities online, cross-border advertising services, and advertising in the press; and outdoor advertising activities.
The draft law applies to both domestic and foreign organizations and individuals participating in advertising activities within Vietnam’s territory or conducting online advertising activities and cross-border advertising services targeting the Vietnamese market.
In its review, the Committee for Culture and Education, led by Chairman Nguyễn Đắc Vinh, agreed on the necessity of amending and supplementing certain provisions of the 2012 Advertising Law and generally concurred with the scope of the amendments.
New regulations
Regarding online advertising, the Committee supported the addition of specific regulations but suggested clarifying three points:
1. Ensure that the new regulations align with specialized laws to maintain legal consistency and comprehensively cover all entities involved in online advertising.
2. While agreeing to adjust the time required to close or open online advertisements to reflect current practices and global trends, the proposed increase from 1.5 seconds to 6 seconds—a fourfold change—requires thorough impact assessment and justification to ensure objectivity and persuasiveness.
3. The draft law currently lacks provisions for advertisements containing links to personal information pages or applications on mobile devices and other electronic devices. Therefore, it is recommended to include appropriate regulations for these scenarios.
Chairman Vinh also noted that while the Committee agrees with revising the definition of “advertising content transmitters,” certain aspects need further clarification.
Specifically, limiting the regulation to activities “on social networks” is insufficient, as it does not account for all current and potential future platforms and communication forms.
Additionally, the regulation lacks specificity regarding activities on social networks, making it challenging to define the rights and obligations of advertising content transmitters and to apply the law effectively.
Source: [PLO] Bổ sung nhiều quy định về hoạt động quảng cáo trên không gian mạng
